Reprisal Drives Wedge Between U.s., Allies

April 16, 1986|By Los Angeles Times

PARIS — The U.S. attack created a tense and troublesome split Tuesday between the United States and most of its allies, pushing the United States more out of step with Europe than at any time since the Vietnam War.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stood alone in supporting the raid. Spain and France refused to let the U.S. jets fly over their territories. Most leaders condemned the raid or deplored it.

Only West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl joined Thatcher in expressing understanding of U.S. motivation, although he deplored the escalation of violence.

''Far from weakening terrorism, this military action risks provoking explosive reactions of fanaticism and criminal and suicide acts,'' he said.

Some European leaders were irritated because the raid came only hours after the foreign ministers of the 12 Common Market nations had met in the Hague in hopes of preventing a U.S. retaliatory strike. The ministers obviously offered President Reagan too few curbs on Libya to call off the raid.

Greek Premier Andreas Papandreou, who considers himself a friend of Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy, called for another emergency meeting of the foreign ministers. They are expected to agree to a session Thursday in Paris to discuss the raid and its possible repercussions.

Just as Thatcher's decision to allow U.S. bombers to fly from Britain was the surest sign of support for the United States in Europe, the refusal by France and Spain to allow the American planes to fly across their territories amounted to the most blatant rejections of American policy. This forced the bombers to detour into a circuitous, 2,800-mile route on their mission to Libya.

Relations between the United States and France were worsened by damages to the French Embassy in Tripoli during the raid. A spokesman said damage was heavy, but no one was hurt.

Although he criticized the raid, Spanish Premier Felipe Gonzalez, like many other European leaders, coupled this criticism with a blast at Khadafy for his loud and daily threats of retaliation. Khadafy, for example, has threatened to attack all U.S. and NATO bases in southern Europe. ''I think threats such as the ones recently uttered by the Libyan leader are not tolerable,'' Gonzalez said.